System and method for correlating routing protocol information

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems, methods, computer program products, and the like, for correlating information associated with one networking transmission protocol, such as Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), to information associated with a different networking transmission protocol, such as Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv4). More specifically, when resolving an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with a requesting device to a network, the system may base the resolved destination on one or more attributes of a known address to build a network mapping of the received IP address. In one specific example, an IPv6 address is received and associated with a known IPv4 address to map the network.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/147,884 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FORCORRELATING ROUTING PROTOCOL INFORMATION”, filed on Apr. 15, 2015 whichis incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.

FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to systems andmethods for implementing a telecommunications network, and morespecifically for resolving network addresses for use in applying one ormore attributes to the resolved network address.

BACKGROUND

Telecommunication networks provide for the transmission of informationacross some distance through terrestrial, wireless or satellitecommunication networks. Such communications may involve voice, data ormultimedia information, among others. One particular example oftransmission of data or multimedia information involves a contentdelivery network (CDN). CDNs are increasingly used to distributecontent, such as videos, multimedia, images, audio files, documents,software, and other electronic resources, to end users on behalf of oneor more content providers. Using a CDN allows the content providers toincrease the speed and reliability of content delivery without deployingadditional infrastructure. Moreover, a CDN allows for the distributionof the content through one or more existing networks without the need tostore the content within the existing networks.

Typically, a CDN includes several content servers from which the contentcan be supplied to a requesting end user. In one example, these contentservers may be accessed through a telecommunications network to whichthe end user is in communication. The network may include any number ofcomponents to facilitate the connection of the end user to the requestedcontent, such as routers, Internet Service Provider networks, otherintermediate networks, and the like. In general, the content availablefrom the CDN is stored on one or more edge clusters connected to the CDNor other upstream content providers. Requests for content are thentransmitted by the CDN to the edge clusters or content providers toprovide the content to the requesting customers. However, the CDN maydesire to direct the end user's computing device to a specific contentstorage device or server.

It is with these observations in mind, among others, that variousaspects of the present disclosure were conceived and developed.

SUMMARY

One implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of amethod for operating a telecommunications network. The method mayinclude the operations of receiving a first request associated with acommunication on the telecommunications network, the first requestcomprising a first address in a first address protocol, the firstaddress related to a requesting device from which the request was sent,storing the first address related to the requesting device in a databaseof routing protocol information, and receiving a second request at thetelecommunications network, the second request comprising a secondaddress in a second address protocol, the second address related to therequesting device from which the request was sent, wherein the secondaddress protocol is different than the first address protocol. Themethod may also include the operations of correlating the first addressstored in the database and the second address of the requesting deviceand assigning an attribute of the second address to the first address ofthe requesting device.

Another implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of atelecommunications device. The device includes a network communicationport to transmit and receive communications over a telecommunicationsnetwork, a processor, and a memory device in communication with theprocessor for storing one or more instructions. When the one or moreinstructions are executed by the processor, the telecommunicationsdevice receives a first request from a requesting device through thenetwork communication port, the first request comprising a first addressin a first address protocol, stores the first address from therequesting device in a database of routing protocol information, andreceives a second request through the network communication port, thesecond request comprising a second address in a second address protocol,the second address related to the requesting device, wherein the secondaddress protocol is different than the first address protocol. Further,the telecommunications device correlates the first address stored in thedatabase and the second address of the requesting device, assigns anattribute of the second address to the first address, and stores anindication of the assignation of the attribute to the first address inthe database.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example network environment for distributing content over atelecommunications network.

FIG. 2 is an example network environment 200 for providing content to auser of a network through the resolving of an IP address associated withthe request for content.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for a network resolver to obtain anattribute associated with a first type of an IP address from a secondtype of an IP address.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method for associating an IPv4address with a received IPv6 address of a DNS request.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of various fields of a typical DNSmessage.

FIG. 6 is an example network environment for providing requested contentto a user computing device based on a hypertext transfer protocolmessage.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computing system whichmay be used in implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems, methods, computerprogram products, and the like, for extracting information associatedwith one networking transmission protocol, such as Internet Protocolversion 6 (IPv6), based on information associated with a differentnetworking transmission protocol, such as Internet Protocol version 4(IPv4). More specifically, when resolving an Internet Protocol (IP)address associated with a request for content from a network or toconnect a user of the network to an end device, the system may base theresolved destination on attributes of a known address to build a networkmapping of the received IP address. In one specific example, an IPv6address is received and associated with a known IPv4 address to map thenetwork. In another example, an IPv4 address is received and associatedwith a known IPv6 address to map the network. In one particular example,a geographic location of a requested computing device or machine may bedetermined or estimated based on an IPv4 address associated with areceived IPv6 address of the request. The IPv4 address may be determinedfrom the IPv6 address or the device, such as an Internet ServiceProvider (ISP) DNS resolver, identified by the IPv6 address to determinethe mapping associated with the IPv4 address for use in resolving therequest. In one specific example, the IPv4 address associated with thereceived IPv6 address is used to obtain some attribute, such as ageographic location, of the IPv4 address. An IP address is thenresolved, where the IP address of the device to service the request isbased, at least in part, on the attribute of the IPv4 address.

Other implementations are also described and recited herein. Further,while multiple implementations are disclosed, still otherimplementations of the presently disclosed technology will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which shows and describes illustrative implementations ofthe presently disclosed technology. As will be realized, the presentlydisclosed technology is capable of modifications in various aspects, allwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the presently disclosedtechnology. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to beregarded as illustrative in nature and not limiting.

FIG. 1 is an example network environment 100 for distributing content toone or more users that may be aided by identifying a geographic locationof a requesting device. Although illustrated in FIG. 1 as a contentdelivery network, it should be appreciated that aspects of the presentdisclosure may apply to any type of telecommunications network thatutilizes IP addresses for connecting an end user to one or morecomponents of the network. For example, aspects of the disclosure may beutilized to connect a user of the network to an endpoint in the network,a conferencing server, a virtual private network device, and the like.Thus, although the CDN architecture is used throughout the document asthe example network architecture through which aspects of the presentdisclosure may be applied; other network architectures andconfigurations are similarly contemplated.

In one implementation of the network environment 100, a CDN 102 iscommunicably coupled to one or more access networks 106. In general, theCDN 102 comprises one or more components configured to provide contentto a user upon a request and an underlying IP network through which therequest is received and the content is provided. The underlying IPnetwork associated with the CDN servers may be of the form of any typeIP-based communication network configured to transmit and receivecommunications through the network and may include any number and typesof telecommunications components. In this manner, CDN-based componentsmay be added to an existing IP-based communication network such that thecomponents receive a request for content, retrieve the content from astorage device, and provide the content to the requesting device throughthe supporting IP network. For simplicity, the use of the term “CDN”throughout this disclosure refers to the combination of the one or morecontent servers and the underlying IP network for processing andtransmitting communications, unless otherwise noted.

In one embodiment, a user device 104 connects to the CDN 102 through oneor more access networks 106 to request and receive content or contentfiles from the CDN. The access network 106 may be under the control ofor operated/maintained by one or more entities, such as, for example,one or more Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that provide access to theCDN 102. Thus, for example, the access network 106 may provide Internetaccess to a user device 104. In addition, the access network 106 mayinclude several connections to the IP network of the CDN 102. Forexample, access network 106 includes access point 120 and access point122. Also, the user device 104 may be connected to any number of accessnetworks 106 such that access to the CDN 102 may occur through anotheraccess network. In general, access to a CDN 102 (or underlying IPnetwork associated with the CDN) may occur through any number of ingressports to the CDN through any number of access networks.

The CDN 102 is capable of providing content to a user device 104, whichis generally any form of computing device, such as a personal computer,mobile device, tablet (e.g., iPad), or the like. Content may include,without limitation, videos, multimedia, images, audio files, text,documents, software, and other electronic resources. The user device 104is configured to request, receive, process, and present content. In oneimplementation, the user device 104 includes an Internet browserapplication with which a link (e.g., a hyperlink) to a content item maybe selected or otherwise entered, causing a request to be sent to adirectory server 110 in the CDN 102.

The directory server 110 responds to the request by providing a networkaddress (e.g., an IP address) where the content associated with theselected link can be obtained. In one implementation, the directoryserver 110 provides a domain name system (DNS) service, which resolvesan alphanumeric domain name to an IP address. The directory server 110resolves the link name (e.g., URL or other identifier) to an associatednetwork address from which the user device 104 can retrieve the content.The operation of the directory server 110 and access network 106 toresolve requests for content from the user device 104 is discussed inmore detail below with reference to FIG. 2.

In one implementation, the CDN 102 includes an edge server 112, whichmay cache content from another server to make it available in a moregeographically or logically proximate location to the user device 104.The edge server 112 may reduce network loads, optimize utilization ofavailable capacity, lower delivery costs, and/or reduce content downloadtime. The edge server 112 is configured to provide requested content toa requestor, which may be the user device 104 possibly via anintermediate device, for example, in the access network 106. In oneimplementation, the edge server 112 provides the requested content thatis locally stored in cache. In another implementation, the edge server112 retrieves the requested content from another source, such as a mediaaccess server (MAS) (e.g., a content distribution server 114 or acontent origin server 116 of a content provider network 118). Thecontent is then served to the user device 104 in response to therequests.

FIG. 2 is an example network environment 200 for providing content to auser of a CDN through the resolving of an IP address associated with therequest for content. The components of the network 200 are similar orthe same as components discussed above with reference to the network 100of FIG. 1. For example, the network environment 200 of FIG. 2 includes auser computing device 202, a CDN edge server (referred in FIG. 2 as a“Geoproximate CDN Node” 204) configured to provide content to the usercomputing device, and a DNS server 206, discussed above in relation tothe CDN. Other components of the network 200 of FIG. 2 may also beincluded in the network 100 environment of FIG. 1, if not explicitlyshown in FIG. 1. The operation of the network 200 and components of thenetwork of FIG. 2 is discussed below.

As mentioned above, a user of the CDN 200 may request content or acontent file from the CDN. In one example, a user of the user computingdevice 202 enters a link name (e.g., URL or other identifier) into abrowser 208 executed on the computing device. The link name isassociated with a network address within the CDN 200 at which thecontent may be obtained and provided to the computing device. Forexample, the user or the user device may enter a URL such ashttp://www.example.com/content into the browser 208 of the computingdevice 202. Upon entering the URL, the hostname may be extracted by thebrowser 208 (www.example.com in this particular case), which then sendsa request (possibly via an operating system running within the computingdevice 202) to a DNS 210 associated with the user's access network(transmission arrow 212). The DNS associated with the user's accessnetwork is known as the ISP resolver 210. In one example, the DNSrequest 212 transmitted to the ISP resolver 210 from the computingdevice 202 includes the hostname of the requested content, as well as anIP address associated with the computing device. In someimplementations, multiple protocol addresses may be sent to the ISPresolver, or an address may be sent that corresponds to a differenttransmission protocol than the protocol used to contact the ISP resolver210. Further, the IP address of the computing device 202 may be intransmission protocol IPv4 or IPv6. In general, however, thetransmission protocol of the DNS request from the computing device 202may be any protocol known or hereafter developed, and may includeinformation in addition to a hostname or address.

While the ISP resolver 210 is often implemented to cache responses, theISP resolver often does not have a cached IP address for the requestedcontent within the CDN 200. The ISP resolver 210 may also maintaindistinct caches for subsets of computing devices that use the ISPresolver 210, and the subset used by computing device 204 may not have acached IP address for the content within CDN 200, even though the ISPresolver 210 does have cached IP addresses for other subsets ofcomputing devices. In such cases, the ISP resolver 210 transmits asecond DNS request (transmission arrow 214) to a DNS server 206 of theCDN (referred to in FIG. 2 as “Authoritative resolver A”) to determinean IP address in the CDN 200 at which the content file may be obtained.Similar to the DNS request 212 above, the DNS request 214 toAuthoritative resolver A 206 may include the hostname of the requestedcontent, as well as an IP address or addresses associated with thecomputing device and/or an IP address or addresses associated with theISP resolver 210 of the access network. Further, the IP addresses of thecomputing device 202 and the ISP resolver 210 may be in transmissionprotocol IPv4 or IPv6.

In the case where the DNS request 216 includes an IPv6 address of theISP resolver 210 or the computing device 202, Authoritative resolver A206 may attempt to determine one or more attributes concerning therequest from the IPv6 address. In particular, Authoritative resolver A206 may perform one or more of the operations of the method illustratedin FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for a DNS resolver toobtain an attribute associated with an IPv4 address from an IPv6address. In general, the operations of the method of FIG. 3 areperformed by a resolver device of a CDN or IP network in response to arequest for a content file or termination of a communication at acomponent of the IP network.

Beginning in operation 302, the DNS CDN resolver 206 receives the DNSrequest 214 from one or more components of the ISP or access network210. In operation 304, the CDN or IP network identifies an IPv4 addressassociated the IPv6 address. In particular, the CDN or IP network 240identifies an IPv4 address associated with the DNS server 210 or usercomputing device 202. The IPv4 address in the IPv6 address of the DNSrequest 214 may be determined in many ways. For example, the CDN or IPnetwork 240 may utilize a second DNS server (referred to herein as“Authoritative resolver B” 230) that is configured to receive IPv4requests from DNS resolvers. By instructing the DNS server 210 to sendthe DNS request to Authoritative resolver B 230 utilizing an IPv4address, the CDN or IP network 240 may associate a received IPv6 addresswith a related IPv4 address. Several methods that may be utilized toobtain a related IPv4 from a received IPv6 address are described in moredetail below.

In some embodiments, Authoritative resolver A 206 and Authoritativeresolver B 230 may be the same resolver device of the CDN and arediscussed as resolver A and resolver B herein to distinguish between thefunctions of the resolver at separate times. In another embodiment,Authoritative resolver A 206 and Authoritative resolver B 230 may be thedifferent components of the CDN identifiable by different locationaddresses within the network. In yet other embodiments, Authoritativeresolver A 206 and Authoritative resolver B 230 may be accessiblethrough different telecommunication networks or CDNs.

In general, the obtained IPv4 address is associated with the requestingdevice that transmits the DNS request 214. For example, many ISPnetworks are assigned both a range of IPv4 addresses and IPv6 addressesfor components, destinations, and customers within the ISP network. Tosimplify administration within a network, many ISP networks assign bothan IPv6 and an IPv4 address to components, destinations, and customersof the network. This can make the network easier to use and manage, as anetwork transitions from IPv4-only to a combined IPv4 and IPv6 network.

In operation 306, Authoritative resolver A 206 identifies an attributeassociated with the obtained IPv4 address. In one example, a geographiclocation may be associated with the IPv4 address received at the CDN orIP network 240. In one embodiment of the network 240 illustrated in FIG.2, geographic information associated with IPv4 may be obtained from anattribute database 216. This database 216 may be maintained by thenetwork 240 (such as the CDN) or may be obtained from a third party. Inanother example, the geographic information may be obtained from a thirdparty and stored for later reference by the network 200 in the attributedatabase 216. To obtain the attribute associated with the IPv4,Authoritative resolver A 206 or Authoritative resolver B 230 maytransmit a request 218, 236 for the information from the database 216.In response to the request 218, 236, the database 220 may transmit therequested information 220 to the requesting Authoritative resolver 206,230.

Although discussed above and throughout as an estimated geographiclocation, the attribute associate with the IPv4 address may be anyattribute that is useful to the CDN 200 in resolving the DNS request forthe content. For example, the attribute may be one or more levels ofservice, network connection type, device type, or similar type ofinformation for the particular requesting device or network. Similar toabove, any attributes associated with an IPv4 address may be obtainedfrom a database of the network or a database of a third party to thenetwork. In general, any attribute associated with the obtained IPv4address may be utilized by CDN or IP network 240 to resolve the requestfor content from the CDN 200.

In operation 308, CDN or IP network 240 may associate the attribute ofthe IPv4 address with the received IPv6 address for future use. Forexample, CDN or IP network 240 may associate the attribute to thereceived IPv6 address and store the association in the database 216. Inanother embodiment, the addresses received at the CDN or IP network 240may be stored and correlated in a separate database or storage server ofthe network. Through the method of FIG. 3, when another DNS request forcontent is received at the CDN or IP network 240 from the same IPv6address as a previous DNS request, the network may determine that thereceived IPv6 address may be assigned to the same or similar device asan IPv4 address based on the stored correlation. If a correlationexists, one or more attributes associated with the IPv4 address may alsobe associated with the IPv6 address such that correlation of theattribute with the IPv6 address is determined without the need todetermine the related IPv4 address to the IPv6 address.

In general, the operations of the method of FIG. 3 may be performedeither in an “online” or real-time fashion in response to requests forcontent, or “offline” using query logs to other stored data to build adatabase of associations between IPv6 addresses and IPv4 addresses orbetween IPv6 addresses and the relevant attribute related to theassociated IPv4 address. This offline process may generate a database(such as database 216) that is used by the online querying system,allowing for lookups for the attributes without the need to derive theIPv4 address from the received IPv6 address. This database 216 may alsobe used by systems that themselves do not implement the method 300 ofFIG. 3. In addition, a database 216 containing associations between IPv4and IPv6 addresses may be used in place of operation 304 whendetermining the IPv4 address from the IPv6 address.

Returning to the network 200 of FIG. 2, Authoritative resolver A 206 orAuthoritative resolver B 230 may resolve the DNS request 214 bydetermining an IP address of a content node 204 from which the contentmay be obtained by the requesting device 202. In one embodiment, the IPaddress of the content node 204 may be resolved based at least on theobtained attribute of the IPv4 address. In one particular example, theattribute may be an estimated geographic location of the computingdevice 202 or the ISP network through which the computing devicecommunicates to the CDN or IP network 240. As mentioned above, it isoften advantageous to provide content to a computing device 202 from acontent node 204 that is geographically near the computing device. Thus,the IP address of the content node 204 returned by CDN or IP network 240may be for a content node 204 that is geographically close to thecomputing device 202.

In this manner, CDN or IP network 240 returns a geoproximate IP address222, 234 for the requested content to the ISP resolver 210. The ISPresolver 210 then forwards the geoproximate IP address for the requestedcontent to the computing device 202 (transmission arrow 224). With thisinformation, the computing device 202 transmits a content request 226 tothe geoproximate CDN node 204 and, in response, the content 228 istransmitted to the computing device 202.

As mentioned above, extracting an IPv4 address from an IPv6 address andassigning attributes associated with the IPv4 address to the IPv6address may be used in any telecommunications network architecture. Inone embodiment, aspects of the present disclosure may be utilized toconnect a user of the network to other components in the network, suchas an endpoint in the network, a conferencing server, a virtual privatenetwork device, and the like. For example, a network may utilize a CDNDNS infrastructure to connect an end user of the network the endpointdevice. In other words, the DNS of the CDN may be utilized by thenetwork (or a third party network) to resolve the IP address for theendpoint device. In some instances, further, it may be beneficial toconnect the user of the network to an endpoint device that isgeographically near the user. For example, a client of the network mayhave a European and a United States based location. The client mayinclude a VPN device in the telecommunications network in bothlocations, as well as interconnection between the two locations via aprivate network or tunnel. If a user of the network logs into theinternet while located in Europe, the network may attempt to connect theuser to the VPN endpoint in Europe rather than the VPN device in theUnited States. In this scenario, the telecommunications network mayattempt to determine a geolocation of the user based on the user's IPv6address provided. Further, by extracting an IPv4 address from the IPv6address of the user, the network may identify and connect the user to adevice that is geographically near the user.

In another example, the telecommunications may perform some type ofgeoblocking and/or similar technology. Geoblocking is the method ofpreventing users in a particular country from accessing content (becauseof licensing or other requirements). If the user attempting to accessthe content provides an IPv6 address, the network may attempt to obtainan IPv4 address from the IPv6 address and associate a geolocation withthe user to accurately apply geoblocking. Other examples include usingthe attribute of the IPv4 address from the IPv6 address to select adefault language for a user, assist in locating a user for lawenforcement or emergency response purposes, and the like.

As shown, assigning an attribute of an IPv4 address to an associatedIPv6 address, such as an approximate geographic location of the deviceusing the IPv6 address, may be utilized by a telecommunications networkin many ways to assist the network. Thus, a database of IPv6 addressesand associated attributes may be useful to the network. As alsodescribed above, the network may build such a database offline and notnecessarily in response to receiving a request for content from a user.Rather, the network may analyze some of all ISP resolvers that have madea request to the network over a certain time period. The network may runa program against the ISP resolvers and extract one or more IPv4addresses from the IPv6 addresses, where possible. The IPv4 addressesextracted by the network may then be used to populate the database ofIPv6 addresses with an associated attribute, such as in building anapproximate geographic location database of recognized IPv6 addresses.This information may then be stored in the database and available forone or more devices of the network to obtain an attribute of an IPv6address for use by the network. By maintaining the database, the networkmay not need to extract the IPv4 address from the IPv6 address wheneverthe IPv6 address is received. Further, the database of attributes andIPv6 addresses may be provided to other networks and/or devices for useby those networks in a similar manner as described above with referenceto the CDN architecture. In one particular example, the database 216 ofthe network of FIG. 2 may be populated or updated offline for a subsetof IPv6 addresses obtained from one or more DNS resolvers.

As mentioned above, the DNS request received at the ISP resolver 210,Authoritative resolver A 206, Authoritative resolver B 230 may includean IPv6 associated with the requesting device or network. The receivingresolver, however, may not have attributes associated with the receivedIPv6 address to aid in resolving the request into an optimized IPaddress for the content providing device. Thus, it may benefit the CDN200 to obtain a related or correlated IPv4 address for the requestingdevice or network to aid in resolving the DNS request where IPv4attributes may be more inclusive. FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of amethod for associating an IPv4 address with a received IPv6 address of aDNS request. In one embodiment, the operations of the method of FIG. 4may be performed by one or more resolvers associated with a CDN.However, any device within the CDN or access network or IP network mayperform the operations of FIG. 4. In addition, the operations may beperformed through the execution of one or more software instructions,through one or more hardware circuits, or through a combination ofsoftware and hardware.

Beginning in operation 402, the CDN or IP network receives a firstrequest for content at a first resolver of the network. In one example,the first request is from a device identified by an IPv6 address and therequest is configured such that the IPv6 address of the requestingdevice is included in the request. However, the protocol address of thedevice that transmits the first request to the CDN or IP network maybelong to any transmission protocol, such as IPv4. Utilizing the network200 illustrated in FIG. 2, a request for content may be received fromthe ISP resolver 210 at the authoritative resolver A 206 (transmissionarrow 214). In one particular embodiment, the request includes ahostname for the requested content. Based on the hostname for thecontent included in the request, the request is transmitted toauthoritative resolver A 206 by the IP network or CDN 240 as the mostlikely DNS resolver to resolve the request.

In operation 404, the authoritative resolver A 206 or the underlying CDNor IP network 240 may store the received address of the requestingdevice. In the example above, the IPv6 address of the requesting DNSresolver 210 may be stored by the network 240. In one particularexample, the address of the requesting device may be stored in adatabase 216 of the network 204 (transmission arrow 218). Further, theCDN or IP network 240 may generate an identifier that is associated withthe stored address of the requesting device. In one example, theidentifier may be the stored address, such as the IPv6 address of therequesting device. Also, in operation 406, the authoritative resolver A206 may transmit a message to the requesting device (in this example,the DNS resolver 210) that may be in-turn resolved by the ISP DNSresolver, or be redirected, as shown by transmission arrow 222. Ingeneral, the redirect message instructs the requesting device totransmit another request for the content in another protocol thatincludes some identification of the stored address above. For example,the redirect message may instruct the ISP resolver 210 to transmitanother request to the CDN 240 utilizing an IPv4 address associated withthe resolver. As explained in more detail below, this second request tothe CDN 240 may include an identifier of the first request such that theCDN may correlate the two requests transmitted to the CDN. In oneexample, the identifier is the IPv6 address of the requesting device.However, the identifier included in the redirect message may be anyidentifier that is unique to the requesting device.

In one particular example, the authoritative resolver A 206 may, inresponse to receiving a request for content from the ISP resolver 210,transmit a redirect message to the ISP resolver. The redirect messagemay include a Canonical Name Record (CNAME) entry in the transmittedmessage. In one embodiment, the CNAME redirect message transmitted tothe ISP resolver 210 includes the IPv6 address received at theauthoritative resolver A 206 as discussed above. In addition, the CNAMEmay include an alias domain name that redirects the ISP resolver 210 toa second authoritative resolver B 230 of the CDN 240. For example, theredirect message may include the received IPv6 address from the ISPresolver 210 followed by v6assoc.example.net. Upon receipt of theredirect message, the ISP resolver 210 determines the alias domain name(in this example, v6assoc.example.net) is best answered by the secondauthoritative resolver B 230, as described below in more detail.

As discussed, the ISP resolver 210 may transmit a second request messageto the authoritative resolver B 230 by following the alias domain nameof the redirect message. Thus, in operation 208, the authoritativeresolver B 230 receives a request for the content from the ISP resolver210, as shown in transmission arrow 232. The second request to theauthoritative resolver B 230 may include the alias domain name and anidentifier of the first request received at the authoritative resolver A206. In one particular embodiment, the identifier in the second requestto the authoritative resolver B 230 is the IPv6 of the ISP resolver 210.In addition, the authoritative resolver B 230 may be configured to onlyreceive requests in a particular protocol. For example, theauthoritative resolver B 230 may be configured to only receive requestsin IPv4. Thus, the second request transmitted by the ISP resolver 210may be transmitted to the authoritative resolver B 230 utilizing theIPv4 address of the ISP resolver.

Through the operations above, the authoritative resolver B 230 receivesa request utilizing the IPv4 address of the ISP resolver 210 that alsoinclude the IPv6 address of ISP resolver. Thus, in operation 410, theCDN or IP network 240 may associate the IPv4 address of the ISP resolver210 with the IPv6 address of the ISP resolver. However, the associationof one protocol IP address of the requesting device with a secondprotocol IP address may be of any known or hereafter developed protocol.Further, the association of the ISP resolver 210 protocol address may bestored in the database 216 or other storage device of the CDN 240 forfuture use.

In operation 412, authoritative resolver B 230 may associate anattribute of the IPv4 address of the requesting device 210 with thereceived request for content. In one particular example, the attributemay be an estimated geographic location of the computing device 202 orthe ISP network 210 through which the computing device communicates tothe CDN or IP network 240. In operation 414, authoritative resolver B230 returns a geoproximate IP address for the requested content to theISP resolver 210 for forwarding onto the user's computing device 202. Inaddition, the association of the attribute associated with the IPv4address of the requesting device with the IPv6 address of the requestingdevice may be stored by the CDN 240 for future use. Thus, when anotherDNS request for content is received at the CDN or IP network 240 fromthe same IPv6 address as a previous DNS request, the network maydetermine that the received IPv6 address may be assigned to the same orsimilar device as an IPv4 address based on the stored correlation. If acorrelation exists, one or more attributes associated with the IPv4address may also be associated with the IPv6 address such thatcorrelation of the attribute with the IPv6 address is determined withoutthe need to determine the related IPv4 address to the IPv6 address.Therefore, transmission of the redirect message to another authoritativeresolver of the CDN 240 may not be necessary for requests for contentreceived from that particular requesting device that already has anassociated attribute to the IPv6 address.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the redirect messagetransmitted by the authoritative resolver A 206 may include additionalinformation than described above. For example, in addition to the CNAMEincluding an alias domain name and the identifier of the requestingdevice IPv6 address, the redirect message may include additionalinformation in other fields of the DNS message. FIG. 5 illustrates ablock diagram of various fields of a typical DNS message. In particular,a DNS message may include a header field 502, a question field 504, ananswer field 506, an authority field 508, and an additional informationfield 510. In general, the question field 504 includes the request forthe content, or more particular, a query type and a hostname associatedwith the requested content file. The answer field 506 may include theresponse to the question, including an IP address of a CDN node 204 fromwhich the content may be retrieved. In one particular embodiment, theCNAME discussed above may be included in the answer field 506 of the DNSredirect message. In addition to the CNAME, the answer field 506 mayalso include a time-to-lapse (TTL) indicator that determines theduration the device receiving the DNS redirect message holds theinformation contained in that particular field. In one example, theanswer field 506 that includes the CNAME may include a relatively shortTTL so that the redirect of the request ceases quickly once a databaseof associations has been created.

In the authority field 508, the redirect message may include informationon which servers of the CDN 240 are responsible for the zone of thehostname in the URL included in the initial request. For example, theauthority field 508 may include an address for a particular server inthe CDN 240 for the next request for the particular content received atthe ISP resolver 210. Thus, upon receiving another request for thecontent from a user device 202, the ISP resolver 210 may access theinformation in the authority field 508 and follow the address in theauthority field to a particular authoritative resolver 230 of the CDNwhich may have multiple addresses to be temporarily associated with anincoming request to Authoritative Resolver A. In one example, theauthoritative resolver of the CDN may be authoritative resolver B 230.Similar to above, the authoritative resolver indicated in the authorityfield 508 may be an IPv4-only resolver or otherwise may be dedicated toa particular IP protocol. In this manner, the ISP resolver 210 isredirected to another authoritative resolver 230 of the CDN 240 suchthat the IPv6 and the IPv4 addresses of the ISP resolver may becorrelated by the CDN. The information in the authority field 508 mayalso include a relatively short TTL associated with the field for theredirection, such that once the association is made, the ISP resolverwill quickly expire the authority pointing at Authoritative Resolver B.

In addition to the above, the DNS redirect message may includeinformation in the additional field 510. For example, the redirectmessage may include additional details for ISP resolver 210 to locateAuthoritative resolver B 230, such as the IPv4 address of Authoritativeresolver B. The data in the additional field 510 may be assigned arelatively long TTL such that, although the ISP resolver 210 receives aresponse to the initial query, the redirect for further requests for thecontent to authoritative resolver B 230 may be held longer by the ISPresolver than the initial response. In this manner, the fields of theDNS message may be utilized to redirect the request for content asdescribed above with relation to the method of FIG. 4.

Although discussed above with relation to DNS requests for content,similar operations may be utilized in other transmission protocols. Forexample, the operations may be performed through one or more hypertexttransfer protocol (HTTP) messages. FIG. 6 is an example networkenvironment 600 for providing content to a user computing device inresponse to a received HTTP request. The components and functionalitiesof the network 600 are similar or the same as discussed above withreference to FIG. 2. For example, a user's computing device 602 maygenerate an HTTP get command message to request some information from atelecommunications network 640. The request is transmitted (arrow 612and 614) to the network 640 through an ISP network 610 in communicationwith the user computing device 602. In particular, the request isreceived at a web server (such as web server A 606) of the network 640.Similar to the DNS resolvers discussed above and in response to the getcommand, the web server A 606 may log the IPv6 or IPv4 address of therequesting device included in the HTTP get command and return an HTTPredirect command that appends the unique id (such as the IPv6 address ofthe user's computing device 602 or ISP network 610) to the redirect IPaddress. The requesting device 602 may then transmit another HTTP getcommand to the redirect IP address (corresponding to web server B 630)that includes the unique identifier. In this example, web server B 630may be an IPv4 only web server that forces the HTTP get command toinclude the IPv4 address of the computing device 602 or ISP network 610.The web server B 630 may then correlate the unique identifier (such asthe requesting device IPv6 address) with the IPv4 address of the secondHTTP get command as described above and return the requested contentpage to the requesting device 602. Similar to the examples listed above,the web server A 606 and the web server B 630 may be the same or adifferent server in this example. In another example, the web server A606 and/or web server B 630 may be CDN edge cache devices to provide thecontent or an address of a geoproximate device 604 to the user'scomputing device 602

In yet another embodiment, web server A 606 may return a media manifestin response to the HTTP get command received at the server. The mediamanifest may include a least one entry that redirects the requestingdevice to web server B 630. Similar to the above, web server B 630 mayreceive an HTTP get command from the requesting device that referencesan IPv4 address of the requesting device where the initial requestreferenced the IPv6 address of the requesting device. Thetelecommunications network 640 may then correlate the two addresses asdiscussed above. In response to the IPv4 request for the content chunk,web server B 230 may provide the chunk to the requesting device. Thus,in this embodiment, at least one chunk of the media manifest directs therequesting device to the IPv4-only resolver such that the two addressesof the requesting device is correlated.

In still another embodiment, the web server A 206 may return a response(such as the requested content page) to the HTTP get command received atthe resolver. In addition to the returned page, the response may includea cookie or other type of identification that is stored by therequesting device. At some later point, the requesting device may againtransmit an HTTP get command. However, in this case, the HTTP getcommand may be sent utilizing a transmission protocol that is differentfrom the first request from the requesting device. For example, thesecond get command may refer to an IPv4 address of the requesting devicewhile the first get command may refer to an IPv6 address of the device.The second HTTP get command may include the cookie or other identifierreceived in response to the first get command. The IP network or CDN mayrecognize the cookie and correlate the IPv6 and the IPv4 addresses. Inaddition, the IP network or CDN may analyze the received cookie todetermine if the requesting device transmitting the second get commandis from a similar ASN as the device transmitting the first get command,to increase the likelihood that the requesting device has not roamed orrelocated to a different access network. Further, the cookie or otheridentifier may have an associated expiration time to aid in the accuracyof the correlation of the IP addresses received at the IP network orCDN.

Through the systems and methods described above, a telecommunicationsnetwork may correlate related IP addresses for a particular device ornetwork that utilizes the telecommunications network. For example, arequesting device or network may utilize both an IPv4 address and anIPv6 address. Further, the telecommunications network may performcertain routing decisions based on information known about the locationor other attribute of the requesting device. Therefore, it may bebeneficial to the operation of the telecommunications network to knowboth the IPv4 address and the IPv6 address of a requesting device ornetwork and associate any known attributes about the requesting deviceor network with both addresses. In one embodiment, thetelecommunications network may obtain both addresses from the requestingdevice by receiving a first request to use the network, storing areceived address for the requesting device, redirecting the requestingdevice to transmit another request for use of the network utilizing thesecond address of the requesting device, and receiving and storing thesecond address from the second request. Such systems and methods may beutilized in any IP telecommunications network, such as a CDN. Further,the requests may be received at the same device in the network forcorrelation, or separate devices. Once the two addresses of therequesting device or network are received and correlated, routing ofrequests to the network may be based on the correlated addresses and amapping of the network may be performed.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing deviceor computer system 700 which may be used in implementing the embodimentsof the components of the network disclosed above. For example, thecomputing system 700 of FIG. 7 may be the CDN or ISP resolver devicediscussed above. The computer system (system) includes one or moreprocessors 702-706. Processors 702-706 may include one or more internallevels of cache (not shown) and a bus controller or bus interface unitto direct interaction with the processor bus 712. Processor bus 712,also known as the host bus or the front side bus, may be used to couplethe processors 702-706 with the system interface 714. System interface714 may be connected to the processor bus 712 to interface othercomponents of the system 700 with the processor bus 712. For example,system interface 714 may include a memory controller 714 for interfacinga main memory 716 with the processor bus 712. The main memory 716typically includes one or more memory cards and a control circuit (notshown). System interface 714 may also include an input/output (I/O)interface 720 to interface one or more I/O bridges or I/O devices withthe processor bus 712. One or more I/O controllers and/or I/O devicesmay be connected with the I/O bus 726, such as I/O controller 728 andI/O device 740, as illustrated.

I/O device 740 may also include an input device (not shown), such as analphanumeric input device, including alphanumeric and other keys forcommunicating information and/or command selections to the processors702-706. Another type of user input device includes cursor control, suchas a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicatingdirection information and command selections to the processors 702-706and for controlling cursor movement on the display device.

System 700 may include a dynamic storage device, referred to as mainmemory 716, or a random access memory (RAM) or other computer-readabledevices coupled to the processor bus 712 for storing information andinstructions to be executed by the processors 702-706. Main memory 716also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions by the processors 702-706.System 700 may include a read only memory (ROM) and/or other staticstorage device coupled to the processor bus 712 for storing staticinformation and instructions for the processors 702-706. The system setforth in FIG. 7 is but one possible example of a computer system thatmay employ or be configured in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

According to one embodiment, the above techniques may be performed bycomputer system 700 in response to processor 704 executing one or moresequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 716.These instructions may be read into main memory 716 from anothermachine-readable medium, such as a storage device. Execution of thesequences of instructions contained in main memory 716 may causeprocessors 702-706 to perform the process steps described herein. Inalternative embodiments, circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with the software instructions. Thus, embodiments of thepresent disclosure may include both hardware and software components.

A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form (e.g., software, processingapplication) readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). Such media maytake the form of, but is not limited to, non-volatile media and volatilemedia. Non-volatile media includes optical or magnetic disks. Volatilemedia includes dynamic memory, such as main memory 716. Common forms ofmachine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, magneticstorage medium; optical storage medium (e.g., CD-ROM); magneto-opticalstorage medium; read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM);erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; orother types of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include various steps, which aredescribed in this specification. The steps may be performed by hardwarecomponents or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, whichmay be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processorprogrammed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively,the steps may be performed by a combination of hardware, software and/orfirmware.

The description above includes example systems, methods, techniques,instruction sequences, and/or computer program products that embodytechniques of the present disclosure. However, it is understood that thedescribed disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Inthe present disclosure, the methods disclosed may be implemented as setsof instructions or software readable by a device. Further, it isunderstood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methodsdisclosed are instances of example approaches. Based upon designpreferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy ofsteps in the method can be rearranged while remaining within thedisclosed subject matter. The accompanying method claims presentelements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not necessarilymeant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

It is believed that the present disclosure and many of its attendantadvantages should be understood by the foregoing description, and itshould be apparent that various changes may be made in the form,construction and arrangement of the components without departing fromthe disclosed subject matter or without sacrificing all of its materialadvantages. The form described is merely explanatory, and it is theintention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tovarious embodiments, it should be understood that these embodiments areillustrative and that the scope of the disclosure is not limited tothem. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvements arepossible. More generally, embodiments in accordance with the presentdisclosure have been described in the context of particularimplementations. Functionality may be separated or combined in blocksdifferently in various embodiments of the disclosure or described withdifferent terminology. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements may fall within the scope of the disclosureas defined in the claims that follow.

We claim:
 1. A method for operating a telecommunications network, themethod comprising: receiving a first request associated with acommunication on the telecommunications network, the first requestcomprising a first address in a first address protocol, the firstaddress related to a requesting device from which the request was sent;storing the first address related to the requesting device in a databaseof routing protocol information; receiving a second request at thetelecommunications network, the second request comprising a secondaddress in a second address protocol, the second address related to therequesting device from which the request was sent, wherein the secondaddress protocol is different than the first address protocol;correlating the first address stored in the database and the secondaddress of the requesting device; and assigning an attribute of thesecond address to the first address of the requesting device.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the first address protocol is an InternetProtocol version 6 (IPv6) address.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein thesecond address protocol is an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4)address.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the database of routingprotocol information comprises the attribute of the second address. 5.The method of claim 4 wherein the attribute of the second address is anestimated geographic location of the requesting device.
 6. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: transmitting a redirect message to therequesting device, the redirect message comprising an identifier of thefirst address.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the first request isreceived at a first telecommunications destination of thetelecommunications network and the second request is received at asecond telecommunications destination of the telecommunications network.8. The method of claim 7 wherein the redirect message further comprisesthe second telecommunications destination of the telecommunicationsnetwork.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the first telecommunicationsdestination is associated with a first telecommunications deviceaddressable with a first telecommunications device in the first addressprotocol.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the secondtelecommunications destination is associated with a secondtelecommunications device addressable with a second telecommunicationsdevice in the second address protocol.
 11. The method of claim 1 whereinthe telecommunications network comprises a content delivery network(CDN) and the request comprises a request for a content file.
 12. Atelecommunications device comprising: a network communication port totransmit and receive communications over a telecommunications network; aprocessor; and a memory device in communication with the processor forstoring one or more instructions that, when executed by the processor,cause the telecommunications device to perform the operations of:receiving a first request from a requesting device through the networkcommunication port, the first request comprising a first address in afirst address protocol; storing the first address from the requestingdevice in a database of routing protocol information; receiving a secondrequest through the network communication port, the second requestcomprising a second address in a second address protocol, the secondaddress related to the requesting device, wherein the second addressprotocol is different than the first address protocol; correlating thefirst address stored in the database and the second address of therequesting device; assigning an attribute of the second address to thefirst address; and storing an indication of the assignation of theattribute to the first address in the database.
 13. Thetelecommunications device of claim 12 wherein the first address protocolis an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address.
 14. Thetelecommunications device of claim 12 wherein the second addressprotocol is an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address.
 15. Thetelecommunications device of claim 12 wherein the attribute of thesecond address is an estimated geographic location of the requestingdevice.
 16. The telecommunications device of claim 12 wherein the one ormore instructions further cause the telecommunications device to performthe operations of: transmitting a redirect message to the requestingdevice, the redirect message comprising an identifier of the firstaddress.
 17. The telecommunications device of claim 16 wherein thesecond request further comprises the identifier of the first address.18. The telecommunications device of claim 17 wherein correlating thefirst address stored in the database and the second address of therequesting device comprises: obtaining the identifier of the firstaddress from the second request; and associating the identifier of thefirst address with the stored first address from the requesting devicein the database of routing protocol information.
 19. Thetelecommunications device of claim 16 wherein the first request isreceived at a first telecommunications destination of thetelecommunications network and the second request is received at asecond telecommunications destination of the telecommunications network,the first telecommunications destination and the secondtelecommunications destination being associated with thetelecommunications device.
 20. The telecommunications device of claim 19wherein the first telecommunications destination is a network address inthe first address protocol and the second telecommunications destinationis a network address in the second address protocol